Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Microsoft is contributing its software for free. And this is not the first time the company has donated its brainpower and dollars to the try to curb online child pornography. Its Child Exploitation Tracking System — specialized database and search software — is used by law enforcement authorities in 20 countries to share leads and help track down perpetrators.

Pursuing online child pornography, explained Brad Smith, Microsoft’s general counsel, is part of the company’s long-running campaign against digital crime. That began, he said, with efforts to combat software piracy in the 1990s. Going after viruses, spam and phishing came later. Most of those programs were aimed at protecting Microsoft business as well as reducing crime.